A nonduality, Advaita Vedanta forum focusing on the Advaita philosophy and offering Advaita meditations, Teachings and considerations in simple language to point to The Absolute Reality and Realisation. Method of Teaching: Direct Path Method. System of Yoga: the Nisarga (natural) approach. Lineage: Navnath sampradaya.

HOW MISUNDERSTANDING CAUSATION REINFORCES MAGICAL (SUPERNATURAL) THINKING: The Universe Decides Nothing, Part Two

Here, there is nothing that is believed, so there is no one here who wants you to believe anything, either. Here, the invitation is to be free of all that you have been programmed, conditioned, acculturated, and domesticated to believe so that you can be free, period.

F.: Yesterday, the pointer was offered that (1) a failure to understand causation and (2) being programmed to believe that there is a god or a universe that is controlling each and every event on this planet (in the midst of trillions upon trillions of other planets and stars)

will result in the assignment of cause to

(3) a singular "force" or "power" or "intelligence" and results in (4) the masses talking in their sleep and repeating a dreamed-up cause which (5) ends the search to find true cause before a search even begins.

That is to say, when persons do not understand the multiplicity of causes - the long chain of causation involved with any particular happening - then they will accept the over-simplified explanation that one god or one universal intelligence on one extraterrestrial force is the only cause. Louise reveals the duality in such faulty, magical thinking:

LOUISE: “Spiritual” persons simply use more impersonal languaging to refer to a dualistic “energy” that is higher or greater - “God” in New Age disguise.

F.: Yesterday, it was noted the way that Mark's "death" was explained away with the simplistic belief that "the universe" was ready for him to die; also shown was the way that Michael Jackson's death was explained away with the simple belief that "God" was ready for him to die.

L.: The stories are legion: the other day, I chatted with a patient of a surgeon I have consulted and she affirmed the surgeon’s competence but then divulged that actually she had created a healing partnership with the Lord who must be given a large amount of the credit for the success of the operation.

F.: That nonsensical talk reveals the type of illogical, magical thinking that can convince persons that their research into a physician's skills is secondary to being "right with the Lord" before surgery, and the example is further evidence of the way that magical thinking puts persons to sleep and relegates logic and reason to "the realm of the unfaithful."

In the end, some think they have made a pact with The Lord, some think they have made a pact with the devil, but they have actually made a pact with a mirage, and pacts with mirages produce nothing except delusion and belief in ignorant concepts.

L.:Its rather like alcoholism: the old joke – the alcoholic drinks to celebrate if his team wins and drinks to console himself if his team loses. For the religious/spiritual, if one’s desire is fulfilled, then God / the Universe made it happen; if the desire is unfulfilled, then God/the Universe works in mysterious ways we cannot understand.

What happens, simply happens, of course. The elaborate religious/spiritual spin doctoring just hides or distorts that simple fact.

F.: [When this subject was being discussed at a retreat, it was asked, "What about the 'placebo effect'? Even if there is no God or Lord, some sort of belief that healing is being helped along by some supernatural force, even if it is not, helps the healing process."

The response: "The 'placebo effect' is about fooling your own mind. If there is no mind, there is no fool trying to fool it; if there is neither a mind to fool nor a fool to fool, then the 'placebo effect' is a moot issue."]

As tests are being conducted to identify whatever it is that the lungs and heart in this body are experiencing, there is no request for magical placebos, for magical guessing, for a healing partnership with any supernatural being.

There is a request for scientifically-quantifiable data. As with a sandwich order which includes, "hold the onions," so there is an order to hold the opinions, hold the magic, hold the prayers. Just find the facts, share the facts, and be done with it.

Yet that is not enough for those who have assumed their ultra-spiritual roles. Mentioned before was the woman who called to tell me her husband had died and what a wonderful experience it was for all and how truly special it was:

"He was lying in bed, relaxing and breathing shallow breaths. The day had been dark, the sky covered in black clouds. At the moment he took his last breath, the skies were miraculously opened by the power of the universe, and a ray of light shined through, and I knew that the clouds had parted to allow his soul to enter into heaven. Then I heard a voice from inside me say, "All is well."

Quite an interesting concept, that a metaphysical soul could not have moved through a physical vapor if there had not been some force of the universe that caused the clouds to open at the exact moment required to make way for the supposed transcendence of a soul...whatever "a soul" is thought to be.

And how super-spiritual and super-metaphysical she tried to show herself to be, ignoring the science of meteorology to explain an all-natural happening with the clouds and assigning instead a supernatural cause; and in that thought process, consider the egotism involved to suggest that events in nature were occurring because of her and hers and that even the atmospheric formations above were reacting to the personal, relative events in her life on the ground below.

[See also Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in which the chaos of a stormy weather system is believed by the ignorant and the superstitious to be happening because the gods and the heavens have been upset by the assassination of so "important" a person as Caesar. Yes, if a really important persons dies, the ignorant believe, the entire universe will react.]

Magical thinking - it is so pervasive. Ego-assumption - it is so pervasive. Egotism - it is so pervasive. Ignorance - it is so pervasive that when people are programmed and conditioned to believe in the dogma-based theory of "One Cause-One Causer," they never understand the real causes of anything that happens.

(Forget not, too, the belief taught in some religions that the thousands of things happening on the planet call for thousands gods off the planet, each specializing in the control of one specific event in the sum total of all relative happenings. Though such teachings talk of thousands of causers, there is still the belief that there is one causer per specific event.)

The issue of "one causer" was discussed in a tape-recorded satsang session that is now a part of the content of the book FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE:

F.: “Upon realization, another duality disappears: the credit-blame duality. The realized know that assigning credit to one source or assigning blame to one source is to ignore the reality of an infinite chain of happenings. Here’s a simple example that might be relevant. Last week, driving along the road that leads out here, the rear tire of a car ahead of me threw a pebble against my windshield and cracked it. You’ve all probably had a similar experience? [Nods in agreement] What caused that?”

Questioner: “The rear tire of the car ahead of you.”

Questioner 2: “Actually, the driver of the car was responsible. I think people who do that should have to pay for the cost of the repair.”

F.: “I’m glad you said that since your comment will let us see how wrong that type thinking is and let me offer the pointer about ‘cause’.” [Participant displays a mock frown. Laughter from group] As I passed that car and drove farther along the road, I caught up with a truck that was hauling gravel…and spilling it all along the roadway. The pebbles in the road, one of which was thrown into my windshield earlier, most likely came from that truck. Now who’s to blame for my cracked windshield?”

Questioner 2: “The driver of the dump truck.”

Questioner 3: “The manager of the hauling company who allowed the truck to haul gravel without a cover over the top to prevent slippage.”

F.: “The manager? Or could it have been the owner of the hauling company who was too cheap to provide covers or too negligent to be certain that covers were being used?”

Questioner 4: “I’ll play along: it was the fault of the highway patrol that is not efficient enough to pull over those creating hazards on the road.” [Laughter from group]

F.: “Or the legislators who misappropriated funds to their pet projects and underfunded the highway patrol? [More laughs] Okay, enough. You get the picture. A series of events evolved in a way that, at a particular moment, a particular set of circumstances also evolved that resulted in a broken windshield on my vehicle. And if we wanted to play this game a little longer, you’ve already shown that we could trace the cause back millions of years to the circumstances that resulted in a boulder being broken down into pebbles, one of which millions of years later struck my windshield. But billions of years before that, an atom appeared in a vacuum, maybe even spit forth from an adjacent universe. And that atom split and then split again and then formed a mutated atom and those two collided and…bang…that collision caused a chain reaction that resulted in our boulder being formed billions of years later. And then millions of years after that, the boulder atrophied into huge stones and then rocks and then pebbles, and because of that happening and because of a truck and an owner and a manager and a driver and a construction project and an inefficient highway patrol and a driver and a car ahead of me, my windshield broke. Ha. Look at the billions of events that had to occur over a period of billions of years in order for my windshield to be damaged. Yet arrogantly, persons want to claim that they know exactly what's causing any particular happening. Persons want to tell you the one cause that they think is behind whatever is happening. They want to credit one thing or one entity or one power. Or they want to blame one thing or one entity or one power.”

Questioner: We’re back to the pointer you offered before.”

F.: “Specifically?”

Questioner: “About over-simplifying the ‘cause’ of anything. You said something like ‘the cause of everything is everything that’s happened before’.”

The point being offered there is that to limit cause or to assign blame to one factor is to ignore the many deterministic factors that drive events or that drive human thoughts and words and deeds. If persons would be freed from being driven (a condition which removes choice) then they must understand the expansive assortment of contributory sources that drive them to think and talk and behave as they do.

And if they would be free of the ignorance of believing in "One Cause, One Causer," they must understand the expansive assortment of contributory sources that lead to any given happening.

Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)

Seven years ago, a novel in a new genre entitled The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders, was published. It offers the non-duality message by way of a mystery-adventure novel. For those years when my published held the rights to the work, copies sold through the major online dealers such as Amazon for anywhere between US$14.00 used and US$148.72 new. The author's take: $1.92, though often not paid at all. Now, the author's exclusive rights have been regained so the book is now being made available in ebook form so that it will be accessible and affordable to seekers around the globe.

WHAT READERS HAVE HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE NON-DUALITY BASED-MYSTERY-ADVENTURE NOVEL OVER THE LAST SEVEN YEARS:

"Henderson has created an entirely new genre. This is a 'Personal Growth' and 'Self-Help' book in a mystery-romance format". ["Henderson" would not endorse the notions of "personal" growth or of a "self" helping itself, but so it is.]

From Dr. R.F. Maley, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus and former Head of the Department of Psychology, University of Houston: "Floyd Henderson's book, The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders, is a fun read and an interesting mystery, but perhaps more importantly it serves as a vehicle for blending Eastern Philosophy and Native American Spirituality to make an intellectually challenging novel. The book's insights into both relationships and authoritarian conditioning of people in our society make it a must read, tracing the roots of narcissistic, sociopathic and psychopathic behaviors to the very core of the culture. This truly witty and politically-incorrect study of the aggressive nature of 'the American character' offers not only a diagnosis but also a treatment plan, making the book an excellent supplemental reading in courses such as psychology, anthropology, philosophy, sociology and counseling."

"I had an epiphany!"

"I've read a lot of spiritual or self-improvement books that are merely expository. This book gives the reader something that is completely experiential".

"This book freed me. I was locked into a state of self-inquiry and playing 'helper' and 'savior' to others, and that was taking a toll on me that I could not see. Freedom now is freedom from those roles and from seeking to know more and from letting others 're-program' me. I'm at peace now, seeing I didn't need more knowledge and more programming but needed freedom from past programming".

"The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders is a 'wonderful Slaughterhouse for the Sacred Cows' of this culture. It should have been opened for business years ago. I felt like I was living with the weight of the world on my shoulders, when the real burden was from carrying around all those 'cows' in my mind".

"This book showed me that I can reach Part Four in the novel, 'the Peace state', only if I give up all the things I was so proud of and that I was willing to fight about: my city, my state, my country, my leaders, my group, my religion, my beliefs (which Henderson points out were really 'their' beliefs), my parents' values, all the 'my stuff' vs. 'their stuff' he talks about. What a lesson! I can be at peace if I give up the concepts I fought for!"

"I found out why I felt empty, even when I had it all".

"As with William Shakespeare, that writer of tragedies, comedies and histories whose quotes introduce each chapter, this work uncovers the tragedy of fighting, whether personal, national, or international; the comedy of the lives lived by conditioned or programmed humans; the history of mankind's constant state of what Floyd calls 'emotional intoxication' around fears and love; and beyond all of that, the author offers a vision of an idyllic life that once was, and can be attained again, one individual at a time".

"The phrase 'You can't judge a book by its cover' has never had more relevance than when used to describe this novel. While the cover of The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders points to the novel-within-a-novel set in Venice, Italy (and while the lovers shown on the cover do play a central role in the larger story) this work is no simple murder mystery or love story."

"The work is a no-holds-barred challenge to those who would discriminate against others with different beliefs or along racial, gender, economic, and religious (or no-religion) lines. It is a call for tolerance and peace and is a step-by-step guide for attaining such peace on an individual basis".

"At a time when more and more cases of clergy-perpetrated physical abuse are coming to light, this book at once questions the practices of modern religions while endorsing the TRUE advaitic teachings of Christ. It is a book that sympathizes with those who have been harmed at the hands of so-called religious people, not just physically but also emotionally, psychologically, and mentally. Then the book offers something hopeful for those who are yet seeking the peace that they did not, and cannot, find in the venue of the church".

"I loved the 'Novel Within the Novel' love story. For anyone who let that first love get away or who had given up on ever finding True Love, this book provides a spark of hope and is a two-fold how-to manual on love: how to break relationships and how to make relationships".

"You've heard 'It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry', The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders really made me laugh and made me cry."

"If you've ever said, I don't even know who I am, or if you have ever asked, What is this all about? or Where did I really come from, where am I going, and what is the meaning of all this in between? then you have a source that can give you the answer. This book is it".

"I only thought I had a social consciousness before reading this book".

"Gratefully, I'll never be the same after having read this book. I now know Who I Am, and that has set me free. Thank you".

"I thought I was buying a murder-mystery; the further I read, I realized I was reading a great love story; later, I realized I was reading as insightful a psychological-novel as I've ever read; as I moved further along, I realized that I had a book of sociology that captured the entire life-span of those of us who are 'baby-boomers'; by the end, I wasn't sure what I had read, but I knew it was something beyond anything I would ever read again".

"If freedom from abuse and relief from trauma come only after seeing abusers for what they are, after standing up to them, and after shouting, 'No!' in order to finally be free, then this work might well be the author's Declaration of Independence".

SYNOPSIS OFTHE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS

(The First in the Kirk Wildman Series)

The devastation from his encounters with a group of Aryans, who stole his family, fortune, and future, finally eases after Kirk Wildman's reunion with his college sweetheart. Their Venetian holiday inspires a novella, The Bridge of Sighs, detailing love rekindled. Then, tragedy strikes again. On Kirk's ensuing journey, some find a murder-mystery, pursuing his son's killers across Europe, Africa and Belgium, exposing diamond thieves and terrorists along the way. Others discover romance, realizing with Kirk the psychology behind obstacles that destroy relationships and overcoming them to find true love. Others join Kirk's quest for peace and wholeness, transcending religion and spirituality (via Native American perspectives and Far Eastern non-duality) into Reality. Finally, some accompany Kirk on a philosophical passage, transcending pain and healing, shifting beyond the tiring games and phony images and finally settling into the perfect peace that comes after awakening to the truth of Who We Really Are.

EXCERPTS FROM THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS

KIRK WILDMAN ON . . .

Inconstancy in Relationships

She admitted that she had prayed every morning for a year that he would die. It's not right, Kirk thought, that District Attorneys will only prosecute solicitation for murder if God is NOT the one being solicited. Solicit a man to kill your husband, Go to jail. Solicit God to kill your husband, You skate. What a rip-off, huh? Compelling, also, the way things can shift: from stranger to acquaintance to friend to lover to spouse to enemy to . . . corpse, if her God, typically more available to her beck and call, had allowed her to have her way.

Applied Tolerance

. . . His lesson in Applied Tolerance came during time spent with Grandmother and his grandfather. They modeled such tolerance perfectly. The grandfather went to church every Sunday, serving as the choir director; Grandmother went into the woods every Sunday, exercising some kind of communion of her own. They never questioned the other's practice; they never challenged the other's beliefs; they never tried to change the other. They did what they did separately and felt just fine; and they did what they did together and felt just fine. Applied Tolerance. No judging. Total acceptance. Unconditional Love.

His Spiritual Quest

In his energy-consuming search for salvation, he'd been dipped, dunked, sprayed, spayed, sprinkled, and neutered; in the quest for truth, he'd been blessed, cursed, cussed, lectured, scolded, and praised; in his pursuit of Life's Meaning, he'd been communion'd, Om'd, grape-juiced, wined, ahsram'd, accepted, rejected, Mu'd, and yoga'd . . .

"Life"

Some days, the pain in the body or in the mind seems to be so great that one must rest in order to heal. On awakening, one can live in peace as if all is well. So it is with what some call 'life': PAIN, HEALING, AWAKENING, and PEACE.

You may purchase your copy of the ebook version of THE TWICE-STOLEN NECKLACE MURDERS for $15.00 by visiting the site below; then, start reading within minutes:

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The Sequel to The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders:THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WARS

WHAT SOME REALIZED ADVAITINS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE SEQUEL IN THEIR UNSOLICITED REVIEWS:

Jerry Katz (Nonduality.com, Nonduality Salon, Editor of One: Essential Writings on Nonduality) said of the novel:“I think we may be seeing the emergence of the first literary nonduality novel. Not of all times, but the first one fed by the teaching of nonduality as set forth in the last ten years. That kind of fiction is going to be different from any other kind of nonduality fiction."

Dustin LindenSmith offered an excerpt from the novel on his site and said:“My old friend Jerry (Katz) has never been a fan of fiction that tries to be nondual. Too often, it's written by people who may have nondual insight, but who are terrible writers of fiction. The two don't have to be mutually exclusive, but anyone whom he'd read that had tried to meld the two had been unsuccessful. Until now, maybe. In "Issue #2800" of "The Nondual Highlights," Jerry provides an excerpt from a novel by Floyd Henderson called The Board of Directors of Wars. It's a passage of dialogue, but the portion I'm including just has one character making a little speech to another. When taken out of context like I've just done, the passage sounds a bit like the proverbial discourse between a spiritual teacher and a student. I think this speech is quite good."

In the sequel to The Twice-Stolen Necklace Murders, Realized author Kirk Wildman takes on the three sources that have always generated the highest number of dualistic concepts and relative corruption: big business, big government, and organized religion.

Using fifty years of history as a framework, the novel deals with the following:

From the 1950's through the 1990's, baby-boomers saw that many famous deaths worldwide had never received thorough investigation. Early television showed variety shows, but later TV exposed scandals in government, church, and corporations. Politicians, starlets, billionaires, and royals made news involving sex, sin, death, and murder. But what if all those deaths had been orchestrated by one group? And what if an Italian mobster on his deathbed became willing to expose the group? When Kirk Wildman travels with Marie to southern Italy to conduct 'a routine interview' with that Mob killer, they stumble blindly into the crossfire between one ready to expose a group's past, and that group's willingness to kill any who interfere with their plans to trigger World War III.

For an eBook version that is even cheaper, send an email for details by clicking:Contact Floyd

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Much of what Louise has shared has resonated with many site visitors. to that end, some have inquired recently if Louise offers the online Advaita Internet Course. The answer is, "Yes."

Whether taking the course with Louise or Floyd, the price of the course includes all 11 of the Advaita eBooks, questions sent after completion of the assigned readings, replies to your answers, and follow-up as required.

With either teacher, you will be guided through all seven of the steps, in order, that lead from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond). For more specific information and details about the course, you may click on the link to the right.

Purchase at Discount the Advaita Internet Course with Louise

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Now you can receive for $40 a downloadable computer file version of the same 7-hour satsang that seekers receive when they visit for the Advaita Retreat with Floyd. You will be guided through the seven steps from identification with the false "I" to the Absolute (and beyond).For more information or to order, click:DVD or Downloadable computer file versions of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat

SIX WAYS THAT SEEKERS HAVE REALIZED:

1. BY WATCHING the 4-Disk Video (DVD) Set, or the same retreat available as a downloadable file. Either will provide an entire seven-hour retreat / series of satsang sessions showing three seekers being guided through all seven steps by Floyd and can provide viewers with an “experiential,” step-by-step series of satsang meetings that will move the viewers from identification with the I to abidance as the Absolute and then to abidance as That Which Is beyond

Some seekers are already using the computer file version and the DVD sets for meetings in groups in homes, playing the retreat, pausing for discussion, etc.

Option “A” is for the downloadable file version, Option “B” is used to order the DVD set for delivery inside the U.S., Option “C” for international orders.

For the download, Paypal will send me a notice that payment has been received and then I will send by e-mail the downloading instruction, password, etc.

[It is recommended that you watch the video with pen and paper in hand. Write whatever you need clarified. You'll see that there are constant reviews and you might find an answer later in the seven-hour presentation. Then, after you watch it all, there will be a common ground for discussion. Purchase of the DVD’s or the file will include the right to clarifications and answers to your specific questions via e-mail.]

2. BY READING these books in this exact order:IT'S ALL BULLSHIT (And Why Knowing It Sets You Free)SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY (Recovering What Religions Lost)[Those two prepare the seeker to question it all]THE MEDITATION GUIDES[Provide a broad overview of the understanding]WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?[Begins to free the seeker of body identification and the desire for body continuity]THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS "PEACE OF MIND" (There Is Only Peace if You're Out of Your Mind)[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of the false content of the “mind”]LIBERATION[Shows the seeker how to be free of the subconscious motivators of personas]THE ESSENCE OF THE TEACHINGS[Provides the final preparation for the seeker to be directed along the “path”]FROM THE I TO THE ABSOLUTE (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality)[Directs the seeker along the “path”]CONSCIOUSNESS/AWARENESS: The Nature of Reality Beyond Self-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding as The Absolute)[Allows the seeker to understand the functioning of the totality, the manifestation, and what is involved with the un-manifestation]FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO THE NOTHINGNESS[Provides the seeker the wisdom to understand the Noneness as well as the Oneness]Purchase an e-Book now and begin reading it in minutes (except with e-checks that can take 7-10 days). Trusting our clients as we do, all e-Books are provided to you in printable form.SAVE IF YOU BUY ALL ELEVEN AT ONCE:(You may order the books one at a time or you may use the following link to acquire the entire 11-e-Book set on sale for $99 if ordered at one time with the “Buy Now” button below. For this option, there will be no download links provided; once the near-instant notice of payment is received from PayPal, your e-Books will be sent to you as e-mail attachments. All are printable for your convenience.)